Apparatus for comminuting materials



June 10, 1930. c. H. BIRCH APPARATUS FOR GOMMINUTING MATERIALS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 1'7, 192'? Inm /ntor CharlesJi. Bir/ah June 10, 1930. c. H. BIRCH 1,762,381

' I APPARATUS FOR GOMMINUTING MATERIALS Filed 001;. 1'7, 192"! 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 liM' June 10, 193.0. c. H. BIRCH 1,762,381

APPARATUS FOR COMMINUTING MATERIALS "iled Oct. 17, 1927 5 Sheets-Shet :5

H H 8 Q 8% Ltness I mtg chafifw m W yfl u HAM Patented June 10, 1930 PATENT @FFICE CHARLES H. BIRCH, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS APPARATUS FOR COMMIN'UTING MATERIALS Application filed October 17, 1927.

My invention belongs to the general class of apparatus designed to comminute various kinds of material and more particularly relates to an apparatus adapted to receive the material in comparatively large lump size and reduce it to a fine powder, separate the fine from the coarse and discharge the material at a desired fineness.

The apparatus described and claimed in this application is particularly an improvement upon apparatus disclosed by my Patent No. 1,646,184 issued October 18, 1927. It has as an object the production of a device which will be particularly suited for the comminuting of all kinds of materials and discharging the same continuously wherever desired. The device has among its objects the production of an apparatus of the kind described that is simple, convenient, compact, durable, reliable, efficient and satisfactory for use wherever found applicable. A further object of applicants invention is the production of a machine that will be as quiet and noiseless and as free from vibration as possible, and will be economical in operation. A further object of applicants invention is the production of a novel separator. A further object of applicants invention is the production of a novel crushing roll. A further object of 3c applicants invention is the production of means whereby uniform feeding is provided through the crushing rolls. A further object of applicants invention is the production of adjustable means controlling the air gap be- 35 tween the feeder and the crushing rolls. A

further object of the invention is the production of means whereby the tailings from the separator return tothe crushing rolls without passing through the upward air current. 4.0 Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein given.

The novel features of applicants inven- 45 tions are as follows: Applicants device in- Serial No. 226,724.

cludes a casing having a lower crushing roller extending transversely thereof. Spaced both vertically and horizontally from said lower crushing roller is an idling roller. Supported on said lower crushing roller and resting against said idler roller is a large crushing roller comprising a plurality of transverse sections. These sections are secured together by means of a rodextending along the longitudinal axis of the roller and resilient means is provided for holding the faces of the sections in contact with each other. The intermediate sections are provided with apertures at their centers much larger than the rod which secures all of the sections together. This allows for certain transverse movement of the individual intermediate sections, the purpose of which will be hereinafter set forth.

A beater mechanism is provided, same positioned such that the material delivered therefrom is fed to the crushing rollers. To insure uniform feeding, amember is provided extending longitudinally of the lower crushing roller and in contact therewith, thus providing a pocket for the material at the feeding entrance ofthe crushing rollers. A feeder or hopper for fresh material is placed directly above the heater and supplies material to the beater at its discharge end such that the fresh material is first directed toward the feeding entrance of the crushing rollers.

A separator for separating fine from coarse material is positioned above all the foregoing mechanism. Meansare provided for causing a flow of air from said foregoing mechanism toward and through the separator, said air passing between the beater and hopper on one side and the crushing rollers on the other side. Means are provided for controlling this flow of air. The air is conducted upwardly through a hood and delivered to the separator at the axis of the rotating member thereof. The separator in the preferred embodiment'comprises spaced parallel discs. Vanes are provided between the two discs and further vanes are mounted on the upper disc and projecting beyond same. Adjustable vanes are provided about the walls of the separator.

The fresh material generally comprises lumps and fines. The lumps are directed by the beater directly into the crushing rollers. The fines are withdrawn by the current of air and carried directly to the separator without passing through the crushing rollers and the beater. Should the crushing rollers fail to crush a hard lump or should a piece of iron or other material find its way into the crushing rollers, only those sections of the roller which engage same move away from the other crushing roller to let the particular piece of material past. Thus, only a small portion of uncrushed material is let through the crushing rollers. The pressure on the hard lump is increased due to the friction between the faces of the sections, which friction is increased by means of the resilient means holding these sections together. Mat-erial from the crushing rollers is delivered to the beater which assists in breaking up the particles, and is then directed by the beater back to the crushing rollers. Fines are withdrawn between the heater and the crushing rollers by means of the flow of air. The material-laden air enters the separator along its longitudinal axis and is directed outward by the vanes between the discs. Lumps are thus separated and thrown to the outer part of the casing and are returned along the outside of the hood, back to the comminuting means. The material-laden air is then directed past the second set of vanes which throw the material outward against the walls of the separator and in contact with the vanes on said walls. The inclination of the vanes on the walls is made adjustable, thus providing regulationfor the degree of fineness of the material delivered at the discharge end of the machine.

To this end my invention consist-s in the novel construction, arrangement and comb1- nation of parts herein shown and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts: 7

Fig. 1 is a front elevation partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2 -2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2; r V Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section of the large crushing roll; and

Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 2 and is a detail of the adjustable plate for controlling the air passage between the feeder and the crusher rolls.

Referring to the drawings, in which the preferred embodiment of my invention is shown, I provide a casing which may be made in one or more parts of the desired size, shape and material. The particular casing illustrated for convenience in construction and in assembly is made up of parts 1, 2 and 3. Gasing 1 has a sloping bottom 4, above the lower end of which is a heater 5. Beater 5 is journaled in bearings 63 and 64 outside of casing 1 preferably as shown. Adjacent the heater 5 is a removable serrated wall 6. The serrations in wall 6 assist the beater in pulverizing the material. Below the wall 6 is a tramp iron pocket 7, over which is a removable door 8.

Journaled in bearings 9 and 10 on each side of easing 1 is shaft 11, upon which is mounted crushing roller 12. Above crushing roller 12 and to the right of same as viewed in Fig. 2, is idling roller 13. Supported on crushing roller 12 and idler roller 13 is the large crushing roller 14, the particular construction of which will be hereinafter set forth. In the side of casing 1, adjacent the idling roller 13 is the air vent 15 for admitting air into the casing 1. Feeder 16 is located directly above the beater 5 and consists of a hopper 17 and a feeding roller 18. Feeding roller 18 has a plurality of longitudinal pockets 19 formed therein. Above the roller 18 is a pivoted leveling device 20 which rests upon the outer surface of the roller 18.

Between the beater 5 and the feeder 16 is the adjustable plate 21 for the purpose of adjusting the air gap between the feeder and the large crushing roller 14. The particular construction of this adjustable plate will be hereinafter set forth.

In the topof casing 1 is a hollow vertically arranged hood member 22 with side walls 23 spaced from the inner side walls 24 of the casing 1. The lower part of hood 22 is shaped to conform more or less with the apparatus in the upper half of casing 1 as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. The bottom of hood 22 is open. -The top is open except for a flange 25 extending inward from the upper circumferential edge thereof, thus forming a passage 26 at the top central portion of the hood 22. In casing 2 is arranged the sepa-' secured in position by means of a set screw 39. It is seen that the inclination of vanes 36 with respect to the horizontal is readily adjustable. In the top of easing 2 is an opening 40 which leads into casing 3. In casing 3 is a suitable fan or blower 41 mounted on shaft 28 which delivers the comminuted material through opening 42 in casing 3, from whence it is conducted to any desired point.

Adjacent drivin roller 12 and resting thereon is a pocket- 'orming member 43 which extends transversely of the casing 11 and is pivoted at 44 in the sides thereof. The pocket-forming member 43 rests upon the roller 12, the face 45 of the member 43 being formed arcuatcly preferably to conform to the roller 12. The purpose of this preferred arcuate formation and the pivots 44 is to form a tight sliding connection between the member 43 and roller 12. The pivotal ar rangemcnt provides for wear. The purpose of the pocket-forming member 43 is to form a pocket at the entrance to the rollers 12 and 14, thus providing for a uniform feed for the particles thrown into the pocket from the heater 5.

Referring now to Fig. 5, in which the large crushing roller 14 is shown in section, same is shown as made up of a plurality of end sections 46 and central sections 49. A rod 50 passes through all of the sections and secures same together preferably by means of a spring 51 and a burr 52. The members 46 and 49 are thus resiliently held together. Members 46 and 49 are identical for all purposes, except that the members 49 have a relatively large bore at their centers. Sea tions 46 and 49 are shown as made up of a hub 54 and a removable rim 55. Hub 54 may be made-0f any suitable material such as cast 58. Leading outward from bore 53 of coil section 49 is a channel 47 which allows any dust or other material. finding its way into the bore to be thrown therefrom.

The operation of the device is as follows: Material is fed into hopper 17 and same is automatically fed into casing 1 by means of roller 18 therein. The material is picked up by the beater 5 and is thrown into the pocket 59 formed between the pocket-forming member 43 and the roller 12, from whence it is carried through the rollers 12 and 14. By means of applicants novel construction of roller 14, should a hard piece of material engage one of the sections 49, not only is the weight of the section 49 placed thereupon, but also part of the weight of the adjacent sections. This is due to the frictional contact between each section 49 and adjacent sections. This frictional contact is increased by the action of the spring 51. Pieces of iron and other heavy material are thrown by the beater into the tramp iron pocket 7, from whence they are removed through the door 8. The serrations in the member 6 serve to assist the heater in pulverizing the material. The blower 41 is in operation and draws air up through casing 1. Air enters casing 1 through the air vent 15. The air passing through casing 1 passes up past the comminuting rollers up through the hood 22 and carries finely divided particles therewith. The air and finely divided particles pass up through the opening 31 of the separator and the particles are thrown outwardly by vanes 34 and 35. Large particles are sep arated from the fine particles by the centritugal action of the separator. The larger particles drop over the edge 32 of the sepaator and to the bottom of casing 1 around the outside of hood 22 and out of contact with the up flowing air. The finely divided particles are thus separated from the larger particles. The degree of separation is also determined by the inclination of the vanes 36 on the inside wall of casing 2. Vanes 36 are inclined and the dust particles coming in contact therewith are driven upward along the inclined surface. The less the angle of inclination of the vanes with the horizontal, the smaller will be the dust particlescarried up through the opening 40 and into the blower 41. The amount of air passing upward through the hood 22 is controlled to a large degree by the adj ustable plate 21 which controls the gap between the heater and the roller 14.

The particular construction of the adjustable plate is shown in, Fig. 6, in which a space 60 is shown, said space falling directly below the feeder roll 18, thus allowing the material fed into casing 1 to drop directly into. the path of the beater 5. Shaft 11 may be driven by any suitable means. Shaft 61 on which the roller 18 is mounted is driven automatically by an automatic mechanism 62 which forms no part of applicants invention.

[Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence i do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the kind described, a crushing'roller therefor, said crushing roller havin end sections and a plurality of intermediate sections, and means for resiliently urging said sections together.

2. In a device of the kind described, a crushing roller therefor, said crushing roller having end sections and a plurality of intermediate sections, a shaft passing through said intermediate sections and secured to said end sections, resilient means upon said shaft for urging said sections together, and means for permitting movement of each of said intermediate sections transversely of said shaft.

3. In a device of the kind described, a crushing roller therefor, said crushing roller composed of a plurality of sections, resilient means for urging said sections together, and means permitting certain of said sections to move laterally with respect to the axis of rotation of said roller.

4. In a device of the kind described, a crushing roller therefor, a second crushing roller adjacent said first crushing roll and in contact therewith, means adjacent said contacting portions of said rollers and cooperating therewith for forming a pocket and a beater mechanism discharging into said pocket.

5. In a device of the kind described, a plu rality of cooperating crushing rollers therefor, means'adj acent one of said rollers and in contact therewith for forming a pocket at the feeding entrance to said rollers and a heater mechanism discharging into said pocket.

6. In a device of the kind described, a plu- 'rality of crushing rollers therefor, means for forming a pocket at the entrance to said rollers comprising a longitudinally extending pivoted member adjacent one of said rollers, said member in contact with said roller and a heater mechanism discharging of air through said comminuting means, and

means for removing particles of foreign matter from said material.

8. In combination, crushingmeans, a beater delivering material to said crushing means, feeding means positioned above said beater,

and means for controlling the flow of air between said beater and said crushing means.

9. In a crushing roller of the kind de-- signed my name. i s

CHARLES H. BIRCH. 

